A1Digital Expedition

For the past several years our district has offered a course called 21 Things that was designed by me and a few other tech leaders in our district. It has been very popular and so important to our district tech goals that it became a requirement for technology certification renewal. This summer we decided to update the course.
Now instead of 21 Things the course is called Digital Expedition. The title ties in with our A1 Digital Innovation initiative. We made several improvements including creating a version for teachers and another for administrators. We cut down to 15 tasks, but they are more in depth. Finally, we made the course more iPad focused and moved the course from Wikispaces to iTunes U. We wanted the course to serve as a model for how teachers could deliver content to their students on the iPad.
The teacher version is still facilitated by the librarian at each school. The three instructional technologists debated this choice because we don't want to burden others with technology tasks, but in the end we decided that it was important to have someone at each school that was easily accessible. I also wanted the librarians to remain in this role to illustrate that they are still tech leaders in our district.

Our 15 tasks for teachers are:

1. Office 365
2. Schoolwires
3. PD Express
4. Using the Smartboard with the iPad
5. iWork Suite
6. Edmodo
7. Core Apps
8. Beyond the Core
9. Flipping the Classroom
10. Formative Assessment Tools
11. Blogs and RSS Feeds
12. Using Twitter
13. Curation Tools
14. Evaluating Apps
15. Goals and Reflection

Our 15 tasks for administrators are:

1. Office 365
2. Schoolwires
3. PD Express
4. Building the Home/School Connection
5. iWork Suite
6. Edmodo
7. Using the iPads for Evaluations
8. Beyond the Core
9. Flipping the Faculty Meeting
10. Formative Assessment Tools
11. Blogs and RSS Feeds
12. Using Twitter
13. Curation Tools
14. Evaluating Apps
15. Goals and Reflection

The course is a public course on iTunes U if you'd like to take a look.

Individual Tech Goals

In my home state all teachers are required to create a goal for Goals Based Evaluation each year. This includes the instructional technologists, as we are still classified as teachers. This year we tried to not only write our goal, but help our teachers write theirs.
I loved this article about individual technology goals: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/individualized-technology
The three of us put together a presentation that stated our district goals and provided a few sample tech goals. We knew that not everyone would write a technology related goal, but we wanted to help those that were interested in pursing a tech goal. We shared the presentation with the principals and were even invited to share these goals at some of our schools. I've even been pulled aside while walking down the halls to help teachers come up with something. This was an excellent way we could serve our teachers as well as opening the door to future collaborations.

In addition to offering sample goals we asked teachers to answer this survey. The survey was intended to help us tailor the professional development we design to the needs and requests of our teachers.

For my own goal I utilized the questions shared in this blog post to reflect and focus my thoughts.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/self-evaluation-tips-tech-instruction-specialists-stephanie-hatten

I'm still thinking about these four and trying to make sure I address them throughout the year.

1. How can I build my working relationship with the teachers I serve to become collaborative and trusting?

4. What instructional problem is the technology integration solving, or what problem does it need to solve based on these students' needs?

7. How can I plan time to observe teachers and listen to their needs?

9. How can I plan to constantly reevaluate my coaching strategies throughout the year and not just set a plan in place at the first of the year?

How do you design your goals for year?

Admin iPad Walk

Just like our teachers, our administrators can be at different levels of comfort with technology. In order to address this and give our principals a chance to see technology in action we decided to plan an Admin iPad Walk. We combined them with the regularly scheduled district principal's meetings.
The host school created a list of teachers that would be using the iPads that day and which apps they would be using. This would allow them to see specific subjects or apps if they wanted.
Our first iPad walk was this week at the middle school. They did a wonderful job.
We all started in the library where they shared an iMovie trailer of pictures from the classroom. Then they shared an Aurasma welcome video from the principal and the student "tech ninjas" went around helping all of the principals follow the school channel. At the door of each classroom was an Aurasma sharing the apps the teachers used and how they used them in their class. The Tech Ninjas served as tour guides. Not only was it great to see the iPads in action, but everyone enjoyed hearing the Tech Ninjas share their perspective.
One of our goals was to allow principals to see some model classrooms so they know what to expect from staff and push their faculty to be risk takers. When the administrator lets it be known that it is ok for teachers to try and fail, the teachers are more likely to try new things and grow.
We would also love to see our schools try something similar with their teachers. During planning periods teachers could tour classrooms in other grades so that they can get this same experience.
After visiting classrooms we reconvened in the library for discussion and sharing. It was a wonderful day.
We are hosting our assistant principals in an elementary school next week and two more in my feeder system next month at another elementary school and the high school. After Christmas we will visit the other two feeder areas.

Have you ever hosted a similar event? I would love to hear how other schools have addressed the needs of their principals and administrators.

Our Latest PD in Action

Now that our iPad deployment is complete and things are working pretty smoothly, the instructional technology team has been able to focus on professional development. One of our most recent big projects was a district wide staff development day. We have lots of creative, innovative teachers that volunteered to lead sessions. We had something for everyone and were very proud of how the day went.
We shared some of our Techie Challenge videos on the TVs in the lobby. These were fun.
I want to share a few of my favorite sessions.

Share Sessions:
We divided the staff into two lunches. While one group enjoyed several food trucks brought in for the event the other group had share sessions with the teachers that teach the same subject and level. Our teachers often say they do not have time to sit down and share with each other so we gave each group a room and asked someone to facilitate to make sure the time was well spent. We heard a lot of positive comments from these sessions.

Round Table App Sessions:
We also asked our high school advocates to lead app mini sessions during lunch. Teachers that wanted to earn an extra hour had the choice of bringing their lunch into the cafeteria and listening as our advocates traveled around teaching about their favorite apps. Those that didn't want to participate were able to eat in the lobby area and courtyard. The students did a wonderful job.

Another complaint we tried to address was that teachers hear about a lot of apps, but not necessarily how to use them in class. We hand selected teachers to lead 2 hour sessions for each subject area that would address this need. Each teacher began by sharing one of their favorite tech lessons then participants had time to design and perfect one tech lesson for themselves. These were a big hit.

The instructional technologists met with our principals to give them updates, check on issues at their school and ask about PD needs they have seen in classrooms.

One of our elementary PD sessions targeted our K-2nd grade teachers who use carts. We scheduled a K-2 Pick Six session at each elementary school. We advertised with this Smore flyer. We set up 12 stations of activities. Teachers had to complete six of them to earn the hour of tech credit. All materials are in the Dropbox folder linked in the flyer. This has led to several lessons including making adjective selfies with Phonto in 1st grade, Number Pieces math in 2nd grade and Chatterpix projects.